Electronics packages, from personal computers to two-way radios and super computers, with more than one printed circuit card or board require that each of the boards be interconnected. Cables having connectors on either end are typically used to achieve some of these interconnections. Connectors are also used to permit functional units, such as the circuit boards, to be individually inserted and removed for testing, to reduce manufacturing costs, to facilitate repair, and to provide changes in the field.
A connector is defined as a device to repeatedly separate and re-connect pathways in an electronic system. This definition applies equally well to connectors for power or ground signals. The two elements being connected may be alike or dissimilar. Typically, connections of importance are printed circuit board-to-printed circuit board, printed circuit board-to-flex circuit, printed circuit board-to-flat cable, or printed circuit board-to-power supply.
Typically in the prior art, a card edge connector has been used to connect one circuit board to another. The connector is typically a discrete part that is soldered to holes in the printed circuit board and has spring fingers or other types of compliant members to electrically contact the second printed circuit board and maintain contact pressure on the electrical interconnection. Most card-edge connectors utilize one or both of the parallel major surfaces of the printed circuit board as a contact surface for the electrical interconnection. This requires that a certain amount of "real state" on the printed circuit board surface be dedicated to the card-edge connector system. An equivalent amount of real estate must also be allocated on the back side of the printed circuit board, whether or not there are electrical signals present.
It would be highly desirable if the method of interconnecting a printed circuit board to another assembly could be found that would not require the dedication of any real estate on the circuit board surface.